Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea Spectabilis) is a hardy, evergreen, shrubby vine that belongs to the Nyctanginaceae family. The architecture of the plants themselves is one of the most crucial aspects of landscaping. Bougainvillea require routine pruning by clipping shoots to lower plant height and sustain plant architecture because of their robust growth habits. To keep the plant's size consistent, PGR may be an alternative to frequent trimming. During the academic year 2020–21, a study was conducted at the ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, NAU, Navsari, to determine how growth inhibitors affected the dwarfing and flowering of bougainvillaea (Bougainvillea spectabilis). Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used to set up the experiment, with ten treatments using various dosages of paclobutrazol, cycocel, and daminozide. Three repetitions of the treatments were carried out. The growth retardants were applied as foliar spray at 30, 45, 60 and 75 days after planting of bougainvillea in pot. The results showed that the application of 3000 ppm daminozide followed by cycocel significantly reduced plant height, internode distance and improved plant spread in N-S and E-W direction, number of secondary branches, inflorescence length, number of bracts per inflorescence, bract length and width. While, early blossoming was noticed at 1500 ppm of cycocel, which was followed by daminozide. However, plants sprayed with 3000 ppm Daminozide received an excellent score for their visual appeal on a hedonic scale.

Bougainvillea spectabilis, cycocel, daminozide, hedonic scale, paclobutrazol

Inferences about the foliar application can be drawn from the findings of the current experiment that foliar application of 3000 ppm Daminozide at 30, 45, 60, and 75 days after planting of bougainvillea in pot can be effectively used to retard plant height and improve the quality of flowers with better plant architecture in respect to plant canopy and inflorescence.

Tejal Patel, Dipal S. Bhatt, Jemini Patel, B.M. Tandel, Alka Singh and Sudha Patil (2022). Influence of Growth Retardants on Dwarfism in Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spectabilis). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 211-215.